IoT and food safe products showcased

RS Components, a global omni-channel provider of industrial and electronic products and solutions, joined hundreds of exhibitors at this year’s Nampo Harvest Day in Bothaville.

Renowned as the largest agricultural exhibition of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, Nampo Harvest Day sees thousands of visitors flock to Bothaville in the Free State to gain first-hand insights on the latest advancements in technology, equipment, and tools benefitting the South African agricultural industry. The highly respected event took a two-year hiatus in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This year, the event took place over five days from May 16 to 20, with the extra day added to accommodate the restricted number of daily visitors to the show in line with Covid-19 regulations.

Danise Smit, sales and customer services director for RS Components in South Africa, says that the company showcased some of its Internet of Things (IoT) and food safe products and solutions at Nampo. “We find ourselves in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the use of smart connected devices is becoming the norm in a number of sectors – by adopting technology and the Internet of Things, farmers can monitor their farms remotely and gain quicker access to important environmental data, which will assist in improved planning that can lead to a better yield. RS has several IoT devices and solutions that can help enable the agricultural industry on their journey towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” she adds.

RS Components also offers a range of RS pro food safe maintenance products for use in food processing and farming. These products were also on display at this year’s show. All RS pro food safe products are registered with the National Sanitisation Foundation (NSF), an international public health and safety organisation, demonstrating risk reduction compliance.

The handling, preparation, processing, and packaging of food products requires machinery with moving parts that come into contact with foodstuffs. Keeping this equipment clean and lubricated involves the use of non-food chemical products. NSF certification ensures that such products present a significantly lowered risk to health and – when used appropriately – help to effectively eliminate the risk of foodstuff contamination.